Rah-mania

I must say this.. i really must say this... 

I dunno why... jus a day after watchin Rahman recieve his Globe for score in Slumdog, i happened to watch Nicolas Cage's Lord of War movie with no idea that his composition for Bombay (the movie's soul-stirring Theme music) was used as a bgm for the movie.. n it was at a very important part of the movie.. the theme was absolutely in blend... i was jus very happy that this happened.. but i didnt think deeply at that.. jus thought it was a mere coincidence n carried on.. now this was more than a week back..

Today, i happened to watch Uma Thurman's The Accidental Husband.. n guess wat.. its not one.. but its THREE...!! yes.. 3 compositions of Rahman were used in the movie.. 

Yaaro Yarodi (Alai Payuthey)

Rang De (Thakshak) - both these in the course of the movie

Swasamae (Thenali) - n this one during the credits

I was very reluctant to watch this movie jus coz of its rating on IMDb.. but thought i would just watch for The Bride's sake... ofcourse, the movie aint that good... but that thing apart, i never really expected this to happen.. 3 of his compositions...!!? come on.. u must be kiddin me... now wat do i call this.. coincidence again...?? n this movie came into light not very long back.. but in October 2008.. jus at the time when Slumdog was creatin buzz at the film festivals across UK n the US... now this.. a coincidence again...?? 

And this song "Swasamae" has jus captured me all over again.. i used to listen to the song like crazy when it first released.. n now i'm jus as crazy.. so much that i repeatedly kept watchin the credits... this song too was in absoulte sync with the movie's plot.. n one interestin thing here.. can u imagine how the Americans would react on listening to the lyrics "Idadhu kannaale ahimsaigal seidhai.. valadhu kannaale vanmurai seidhai..." i mean.. its abt the meaning.. and also the fact it-sounds-so-differently-rhyming for them.. watever... :D

I do know that this aint a very big deal.. but dunno why.. i really gettin a feelin that Rahman will win an Oscar.. me comin across this has got nothin to do with the Oscar.. but.. i really dunno why.. 

psst: there was one very good scene in the movie though.. the male lead proposes a toast to The Bride.. yes.. Thurman plays a role of a bride in the movie.. coincidence again.. :D

www.oscar.com

Yes.. this will be my homepage for the next 30 days for sure.. with Rahman being nominated for 3 Oscars, who would want to miss the SHOW.. 22nd of Februry is all i'm waiting for...!!!

It really feels great just to see Rahman being nominated for Oscars along with Thoman Newman (a 8-time Oscar nominee) and James Newton Howard (a 7-time Oscar nominee).. can you even think of that...!!?? Winning the Oscar for Original Score will be the best that Rahman can get.. n that too gettin past these 2 geniuses... you should jus listen to Howard's score for films like Blood Diamond, Michael Clayton to get to know how brilliant he is.. the same goes for Newman with scores for films like Shawshank Redemption, Scent of a Woman and Finding Nemo... thats the reason i really doubt if Rahman can win the Oscar for Original Score.. he's got only a mere 20% chance here... :(

But.. but... i can bet anything on him winning the award for Original Song.. this is for sure.. for real sure... 2 of the best soundtracks n my favourites from the album, O Saya and Jai Ho being nominated.. i'm damn sure he's gonna win this one without any doubt... he must win atleast for the sake of numbers.. yea.. he's got 67% chance here...!!! (only 3 nominees in all for this award..)

Comin to the movie Slumdog Millionaire, with the other 7 nominations, i expect it to win atleast 2-3 more.. seein the way its been attractin people worldwide n the attention its been drawin.. it shud win awards for Editing, Directing (given quite a few of the Globe awardees have won the Oscar too) and probably Adapted Screenplay...

However, i honestly do not know how well the the movie is gonna be recieved here in India.. as its releasin tomorro.. its not a movie that has dance.. or fights.. or indian-sentiment.. or dialogues.. or drama.. duh.. i mean its not a Bollywood movie u kno.. n these guys here r all celebratin n goin ga ga over it.. not even knowin how the movie is gonna be.. n do u think the dumb, dumb bollywood actors n filmi personalities would like it...!!?? Hell they wont...!! but they wont show it.. thats the thing...!!! they wud come out of the preview n say "this is wat we want to see.." "great to see hollywood and bollywood come together.." "wow.. its a giant leap for bollywood.." "we have proved to the world that we produce quality movies".. wat... i didnt hear it.. wat did u jus say...!!??? there was no producer or director here to make this book into a movie.. fyi - the book Q&A was published in 2005.. n it took a brit to identify and make a movie based on it... duh.. watever... no worries as long as good things come out of this... 

Comin back to the Oscars.., i must mention the movie that i was very curious to watch since i first came across the storyline some 3-4 months back.. i 've been jus very curious since then.. yes.. i'm talkin abt The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.. the storyline is somethin that one cannot even imagine of happening.. n quite obvious that it wont ever happen... but its got 13 goddamn nominations.. winnin 5 out of 13 wouldnt be a surprise.. one for Makeup is pretty obvious.. with other nominees bein Dark Knight and Hellboy.. there's no stoppin Benjamin boy here.. n the other for Costume Design.. would u even believe that the filmmakers worked very hard to get the vintage clothing frm Levi's...!!?? one for Cinematography, one for Art Direction.. n hopefully one for Brad Pitt... hope he wins atleast this time...

My guess for the Best Movie would be Milk.. only for the storyline it has.. hope Slumdog gets it.. but, its been a very rare thing for a movie to win both the Globe n an Academy... 

So.. here we go.. the wait starts for Hugh Jackman to start off with his presentation on the 22nd Feb.. hopin that SRK wouldnt turn up n do his so-called pelvic dance (that he threatened to do at the Globes) at the ceremony... pray for Roooman.. no.. Raaaman... na.. Rahman...!! :)

psst: sorry for the number crunching there.. kya karoon... control nahi hota... engineer u kno... :P

Rahman...!!

Rahman here... Rahman there... Rahman Rahman everywhere... he just rightly deserved the Globe.. no doubt in that... i happened to listen to the soundtrack before watching the movie... had got dumbstruck with no words.. n after i watch the movie... the songs seem better than ever... felt like as if i was struck by the Lightning "Godfather" Bolt...!!!

I was only wondering why Kate Beckinsale had that difficulty in pronouncing Rahman's name.. wat was that.. Rooman...?? Raaaman...?? Come on.. its jus plain Rahman.. pronounced Reh-man... these guys dont have difficulty in pronouncing Shia LaBeouf or Darren Aronofsky.. but, pronouncin Rahman is a problem eh... watever...

And even before i have even completely extracted the juice frm Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.., Rahman has come once again with a brilliant album... Delhi 6...!!! - this has made me almost write a review here on my blog...

Ohh man... wat an album... jus awesome... this stands right there at the top of his compositions.. jus got no words to explain the feeling that i get on listening to Masakali and Rehna Tu... i was always impressed by Mohit's voice in the JWM song Tum Se Hi... n no doubt, he has almost managed to kill me with his voice in Masakali.. especially the LAUGH towards the end of the song... Rehna Tu has superb rendition from Rahman... n the way the song is carried towards the end.. where is the carnatic coming from...!!??

Jus after listenin to Masakali only once, downloaded a mp3 splitter software.. cut the part with the mouth organ bit... n set it as my ringtone... such is the influence...

Rakeysh happens to be one lucky s-o-b.... if u've been thinkin RDB's soundtrack was gr8.., you aint seen nothin yet... or rather.. you aint heard nothin yet...!!!

My stint with the "Bangalore City Traffic Police" - II

Well.. nothin much happened this time... i was actually thinkin of gettin a fake proof or somethin frm a bike service shop sayin my bike was on service that day.. (i could have done this coz the place where i needed to show the proof was different from where the previous encounter took place... :D)

But.. it jus didnt happen.. i was not interested in doin that.. didnt want to waste much time on that actually.. wud have been a long process i guess.. me gettin a bill of some sort.. then takin it to the Enforcement Center.. talkin to the people there.. n with the way they wud have spoken to me or treated me etc.. thought i wud better pay the fine than come across these things...

so.. went to the Bangalore One centre(as per my parents wish).. n paid the fine this morning.... hope this doesnt repeat again... n if it does, i really am not sure of wat i'm gonna do... maybe take it up seriously... or maybe pay the fine again... (really doubt if the latter wud happen though..)

My stint with the "Bangalore City Traffic Police"

1st Jan, 2009 - Just after an hour or so after creating my blog, i get a notice frm the police.. yes.. this year hasnt started off on a very good note for me.. was shocked to get a Violation Notice from the so-called "Enforcement Automation Centre".. a division of the Bangalore City Traffic Police (wonder why they do not know that its Bengaluru now).. infact, a series of shocks to me in the same notice.. 

Shock No. 1 - 

Offence : NOT WEARING HELMET TO HEAD WHILE RIDING THE VEHICLE.. (i've never been out on my vehicle without my helmet on..)

Shock No. 2 - 

Place : JC Nagara Police Station Junction.. (honestly, i've never been to that area till daybefore yesterday..)

Shock No. 3 - 

Time & Date : 1015 hrs.. 06-Dec-08 (WTF..!! its a saturday.. had gone to bed late on friday night and woke up on saturday at around 11...)

Fine payable Rs. 100 (Rupees One Hundred Only)..

duh...!! its not about the money.. its about the damn fact that i was in a deep sleep when this thing happened at all..

2nd Jan, 2009 - I had decided i'm not gonna pay these useless idiots.. n that i'll go to the police station to seek clarification.. but my parents were against me going to the station (still a taboo..) and that i pay the fine at Bangalore One centre instead of paying at a police station... but i sticked to my plan... was never gonna change..

3rd Jan, 2009 - Parents had gone to Hyderabad.. n i decided to callup these guys n seek clarification.. n so i call up the Enforcement Automation Centre first.. they said i needed to callup the police station nearest to the place where the incident took place... (did he say "incident"...!!?? - Goundamani style'la inge oru feeling..SAMBHAVAMAA...!!??)

Alright.. i had to do it.. called up the JC Nagara Police Station.. n i get a reply saying.. "no sir.. even though it is stated that its near our station, this doesnt come under our jurisdiction".. so who the hell should i speak to.. "u need to talk to ppl in Hebbal-RT Nagar police station as they take care of these things".. got the contact number from them n call them up... the guy on phone said "Please come to the station sir.. we can see what is to be done.." I'M INVITED TO THE POLICE STATION.. wow... i'm the first in my family to go the police station...!!!  :D

I reached the place after asking for directions a few times.. infact, quite a lot of times... there i was.. entering the police station for the first time... (uh huh.. so this is it.. a real police station looks like this eh...) asked the constable there about who i needed to speak to abt this "incident".. he said that this wasnt the station to talk abt this.. as it was a normal police station.. n i needed to go to the Traffic Police Station (my first stint at the police station turned out to be a damp squib..) 

I was told that the traffic police station was abt a hundred metres down the road.. went there.. n wasnt able to find anything that looked like a police station.. n wen i asked a guy at the nearby roadside shop, was directed to a building which was looking nothing like a police station. infact it wasnt looking like it was occupied by anyone at all.. n wen i went inside, it looked exactly like an old abandoned building u wud see in a movie like Kakha Kakha or Khakee or Ransom... went to the second floor where i could hear some voices.. thought thank god, there are some people in this place... quickly learnt that it was also the Traffic Control Room for the area.. wen i heard someone sayin on the microphone "hello.. traffic control room..." (watever.. hoped to get a clarification atleast here..)

Pic above - The building frm outside.. with absolutely no boards or hoardings on it...

I met a constable again there by name Mohan.. showed him the notice.. he stared at me for a moment.. then at the notice.. he kept staring at it for so long that i had to "wake" him up.. he then went to his table n took out a bunch of sheets which were "Traffic Violation Reports" submitted by various traffic constables.. there were a zillion of them.. this guy kept turning them one by one.. for almost 20-30 minutes.. to find the one which had the details of my offense... there it is.. my HOPE.. 

He took that out frm the file n showed me the details submitted by one particular traffic constable (that useless drunken daawwwwg..) who was on duty that particular day.. he then showed me the register where the constable had signed for his duty that day.. he had written my bike's registration number very clearly on the violation report, as if he stood very next to my bike n noted down the number... (but the fact - my bike was parked at my home at that time).. Constable Mohan wasnt ready to listen to me n he told me that i needed to show the proof that i was not at the place where i was noticed for riding without helmet... was like WTF again.. how the hell can i show the proof of me being asleep at that time...!!!?? i asked him if he had any video proof that it was me there riding without helmet.. got in return a stare with a strange grimace on his face.. almost conveying "WAT..?? U KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO.. DONT YOU...??" (alright.. it was too much of me to ask that question to a constable.. as if he committed some crime..) but i had no other option...

He finally said i can now only go to the Enforcement Automation Centre(EAC) to seek any furthur clarification now, as his duty of showing me the proof was over.. alright man.. all i'm saying is i was sleeping and my bike was parked at my home wen this so-called incident happened... how can even this be possible...!!!??? but no use.. he refused to say anything... came back home with all HOPES gone waste... :(

4th Jan, 4009 - I tried calling up the EAC to find if there was any use going there at all.. did some 5-6 toimes.. but no one was answering the calls.. duh.. this is it.. i gave up hope, didnt want to waste any more time n will better pay the fine (ofcourse, without having committed the offence..) also, the notice said "Failure to pay the fine is an offence, which shall be punishable with an imprisonment for a term of which may extend to 3 months or with fine which may extend to Rs. 500/- or with both. We accept Cash or DD's" (wonder why dont they accept credit cards)

Today - On my way back home, went to a traffic police station which was on the way.. but get an answer saying "the server is down.. please pay the fine after 2-3 days.." here we go.. after all these things, there is still something that is preventing me from paying the fine.. wat could that be... HOPE again...!!??? what should i do now...!!??? am i missing something...!!??  is there any proof i can show that i was asleep at home...!!???

New Year's Eve...

People still wanna have crackers, party, songs, dance, cakes, beach for the eve.. but come on.. these have become very common n usual..  why dont they try something new.. something different...  so i decided i had to n i did... i had the best new year's eve this time and after a real long time... 

yes.. i started for home early frm the office... played the guitar.. saw tv.. had dinner.. n peacefully SLEPT... so peaceful that i woke up only at 8 this morning... after 12 hours of deep sleep... n i did have all the parties, songs, crackers in my dreams... all these things absolutely free of cost.. wat other better way to hide from the so-called financial recession huh...?? (but the worst thing here is the fact that i've been in the financial recession ever since i started working... :P)

they say "new year brings us.. new dreams.. better hopes.. improved expectations... better prospects... ooohhh... aaaahhhh.. yeaaaaa... etc.. etc..." 

Ohh yea... i'm really lookin forward to them with HOPE... :)

First Post...

Yea.. I've been bitten by the blog-bug too.. so here we go... one more blogger to puke his feelings all over...

Starting off on 1st Jan, 2009... this really doesnt make a difference to me... but for namesake, the mention of 1st Jan has an inner feeling to it... aint it...?? duh.. watever...!!

One thing i'm really worried is.. whether i will have to think about what and how to write... coz i've nt been doing that off late... (yep.. i meant both thinking and writing.. :P) so.. i expect there'll b a lot of gap between the posts...

So.. wishin myself good luck, lets see how it goes... evlavo pannitom.. idhu panna maattomaa..!!!

ps: the reason i named my blog this way is jus that "thewayiseeit" was not available.. n nothin else... ;)